Instruments

A total of five scientific instruments are carried onboard the ØRSTED satellite. Three of the sensors are mounted at the end of an 8 meter long boom to minimise the disturbance from the electrical systems of the satellite.

CSC flux-gate magnetometer to measure the magnetic vector field (strength and direction). This instrument is stable within 0.5 nT over time spans of several days. It is build at the Danish Technical University.
Star-imager to determine the orientation of the CSC-magnetometer (and the satellite). It is accurate to less than 5 arc seconds. This instrument is build at the Danish Technical University.
Overhauser magnetometer to measure the strength of the magnetic field (not direction sensitive). It is accurate to less than 0.5 nT. The main purpose of this instrument is the calibration to an absolute scale of the measurements of the CSC instrument. It is build at LETI in Grenoble and is paid for by the French Space board, CNES.

The last two of the instruments are placed on the main body of the satellite:

Particle detectors to measure the flux of fast electrons (0.03-1 MeV), protons (0.2-30 MeV), and alpha-particles (1-100 MeV) around the satellitte. This instrument is build at the Danish Meteorological Institute.
Turbo-Rogue GPS Receiver to accurately determine the position of the satellite. Periodically this instrument may be used scientifically to investigate the atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity beneath the satellite. It is build at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and is paid for by the American space organisation, NASA.

Tesla (T) is the unit of magnetic field strength. 1 nT = 1e-9 T. In Denmark the strength of the Earth magnetic field is roughly 50000 nT.

Electronvolt (eV) is an unit of energy. 1 MeV=1e6 eV.

Arc-second (") is an angle measure: 1" = 1/3600 degree

Ørsted Homepage

E-Mail address: Oersted@dmi.dk

Last modified 000929 by Kim Bisgaard.